Broadcast seed-sower



(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 1.

W. L. MILLER.

' BROADCAST SEED SOWER.

W il /wanton N. PETERS. Fhnlo-Liflmgmphen Waihinglnm D. C.

(No-Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. L. MILLER.

BROADCAST SEED SOWBR.- No. 367,830. Patented Aug. 9, 1887.

vwmtoz I I I 90A 9 I a I W @15 Q attache N. PETERS. Pholomhos p er. Waihingion, D. C.

of the same.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM L. MILLER, OF VAN BUREN, INDIANA.

BRO ADCAST S EED-SOWER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 867,830, dated August 9,1887.

Application filed October :1, 188d. Serial No. 216,867. (No model.) I

To all whom it may concern.-

of abroadcasterembodying my improvements.

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view. Fig. 4 is an inverted plan view of the same. Fig. 5 is a detailed perspective view of the centrifugal seed-whee A represents a box or case not suitable di mcnsions, which is provided on its upper side with a hopper, B, the lower side of which is inclined, as shown. To the upper edge of the hopper is attached the lower end of a bottomless sack, D, which is adapted to receive a the hopper.

suitable quantity of seeds and feed them to site corners of the front and rear ends of the box or case, and is adapted to pass over the shoulders. of the operator and thereby support the seed-sowing machine.

F represents a transverse shaft, which. is

- journaled under the discharge opening of the case has a discharge-opening on its rear side.

The seed-wheel is adapted to move in or out of the case K when it is caused to slide from the shaft F. v

M represents a hollow cylindrical sleeve, one end of which is journaled on a projecting flange at one end of the feed-wheel,, and the said sleeve is provided. with longitudinal ra- A strap, E, is attached to oppo dial flanges on its outer side, which fit in re cesses made in one end of the case K. 001- lars N are fitted on the shaft F and are free to slide thereon and bear against the outer ends of the force-feed seed-wheel and the sliding sleeve. A lever, O, is pivotednnder the upperside of the case or box, and has diverging arms at its inner end, which are connected to the sliding collars N. The outer end of the said lever is pointed to form an index, and sweeps over the graduated scale P under the top of the box or case.

R representsa slotted plate, which is secured in a countersunk opening made in the under side of the box or case, and in the said slot works a headed screw, S, the stem of which passes through an opening in the lever O,and is provided with a thumb-nut, .1. By means of this thumb-nut the lever may be clamped at any desired position, and thus cause the seed-wheel'to be maintained either with its entire length under the dischargeopening in the hopper and in the case K, or partly moved outwardly from the said case, so that only a portionot it will be underthedischarge-opening of the hopper, and thereby the quantity of seedswhich will be ejected from the hopper when the seed-wheel is rotated maybe regulated at will. A spout, U, is attached to the under side of the box or frame A, and is adapted to receive the. seeds which are thrown from the discharge-opening of the case K.

V represents a transverse shaft, which is jonrnaled near one end of the box or frame A, and is provided 'with a gear-pinion, WV, which meshes with the gear-wheel H. Near the center of the shaft V is attached a miter gear-wheel, X. r

Y represents a vertical shaft, which is journaled near the front endof the box or frame A, and is provided at its upper end with a mitered pinion, Z, that meshes with the wheel X.

a represents a concave-convex seed-disk,

which is secured to the lower end of the shaft the forcefeed seed-wheel to rotate under the dischargeopening in the hopper, so as to convey the seeds therefrom to the spout U, and the shafts V and Y are rotated at a higher rate of speed than the shaft F. This causes the seed-disk a, which is secured to the shaft Y, to whirl very rapidly, and thereby throw theseeds which fall upon it from the spout U by centrifugal force to a considerable distance from the machine'and scatter them evenly over a considerable area. The upper curved edges of the wings of the seed-disk catch the seeds as they are projected radially by the centrifugal action of the seed-disk and insure their being thrown to a considerable distance from the machine.

By graduating the scale I and noting the quantity of seeds which are cjectcd from the hopper when the seed-wheel has its entire surface presented below the discharge-opening thereof and is rotated at maximum speed, the lever 0 may be moved so as to cause only a sufficient portion of the seed-wheel to operate under the discharge-queuing of the hopper to cause the seed to be sowed in any desired quantity to the acre.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. The combination, in a broadcast seedsowing machine, of the hopper, the force-feed 3:) seed-wheel, the shaft F to rotate the latter, and the seed-disk e, geared to the shaft F and adapted to catch the seeds as they fall from the seed-wheel, for the purpose set forth, substantially as described. 5

2. The combination of the horizontally-rd tating disk with the force-feed secd'whcel to feed the seeds to the disk, and'the hopper having the discharge-opening provided with the case K, in which the force-feed wheel ro- 0 tates, the latter being movable in and out of the said case for the purpose set forth, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in 5 presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM L. MILLER.

Wi t n esses:

CHAS. A. LILLInRInon, 'W'. S. Annme'ron. 

